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Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained.
In today’s video, we’re going to discuss Metatron, perhaps the greatest of all the
angels when considered in context of the constellation of non-scripture writings that pertain to
the Abrahamic religions.
Formerly a man, he was chosen by God to become an angel.
As an angel, his form was larger than the whole of the earth.
He had 72 wings, each one larger than the earth, and he had hundreds of thousands of
eyes, each one brimming with God’s glory.
Let’s get into it.
In the aggregate, when considering all of the auxiliary non-canonical works, here meaning
works that pertain to the Abrahamic religions but aren’t scripture, many believe Metatron
is presented as the greatest of all the celestial servants, greater even than archangel Michael
and second only to God in power.
The etymology of his name is a matter of some debate; Eleazar of Worms, a Jewish Rabbi of
the late 12th and early 13th centuries CE, claimed it was based on the Latin word metator,
which meant guide or measurer, and Hugo Odeberg, a Swedish professor and theologian, claimed
the name was purely of Jewish origin, and that it was a metonym for the epithet ‘little
Yahweh, meaning something like “one who occupies the throne next to the divine throne.
This supports the notion of Metatron residing in the 7th heaven, the uppermost tier in which
God resides.
In Traditions of the Jews II, written by Johann Andreas Eisenmenger, a 17th century scholar
who studied rabbinical literature, Metatron is described as the Angel of Death.
Daily instructions are given to him by God as to which souls were to be reaped.
And just as he was God’s delegate in this matter, so did Metatron operate through his
deputies, Sammael and Gabriel.
Another story that presents eminent angels as subordinate to Metatron is told in the
Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a voluminous series of chronicles compiled by Eleasar ben Asher,
who is thought to have lived during the 14th century.
Jannes and Jambres, two Egyptian sorcerers who managed to ascend to heaven through use
of their black arts, were so formidable that archangels Michael and Gabriel were unable
to expel them.
As the story goes, it wasn’t until Metraton intervened and exerted his own power that
these two sorcerers were cast out of the divine domain.
Many exalting appellations are ascribed to Metatron, including: prince of the divine
face, chancellor of Heaven, chief of the ministering angels, angel of the covenant, the lesser
Yahweh, and king of angels.
His charge is the sustenance of all mankind, and in the Talmud, a compilation of ancient
Jewish teachings, and in the Targum, Aramaic translations of the Hebrew bible, he is presented
as the link between heaven and earth, between the realm of the divine and the realm of humanity.
One of his origin stories claims that he was originally the patriarch Enoch.
Supposedly, he attained much esteem in the eye’s of God for both the enormity of his
goodness and his incredible skill as a scribe.
The book of Enoch is a pseudepigraphal work, meaning it is a work originally attributed
to a figure of the past or created by an author who claimed to be a figure of the past.
In the case of the book of Enoch, it is a book written by a person falsely claiming
to be Enoch, the seventh patriarch in the book of Genesis.
Another example is the author Pseudo-Dionysius, a philosopher and theologian who wrote influential
religious treatises in the late 5th or early 6th century CE, such as the one that delineates
the nine choirs of the celestial hierarchy.
His work was originally attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite, a biblical figure who lived
in the first century CE who was converted by St. Paul of Athens.
As described in the Book of Enoch, Enoch was transported to heaven.
Upon his arrival, he was treated to a tour of creation.
Afterwards, God selected him as the recipient of an unparalleled honor, to leave humanity
behind and join the angelic ranks.
This transformation was marked by 1,365,000 blessings.
His stature swelled, enlarging until he was nearly the size of the earth itself.
72 wings, each one the size of the earth, unfurled from his back, and on him opened
365,000 eyes, each one suffused with God’s glory.
Following his ascension, the heralds of heaven went forth, proclaiming to every part and
every person in the celestial plane that Metatron was to be bestowed with a great honor beyond
his angelic ascension: he was to be seated in the seventh heaven, the highest heaven,
on a splendid throne, and it was said that all who wished to approach the throne of God
must first approach Metatron; for his old form was shed, superseded by his new incarnation:
the prince of wisdom and of understanding; and to consecrate and complete this transfiguration,
Metatron became of flame: his bones and sinews like whitehot steel, his eyes blazing like
open furnaces, and the skin that clad him the quintessence of heat itself.
Realized in this new form, Metatron was such an awesome and majestic figure that one angel
was overcome by the sight of him, prostrating himself and proclaiming that heaven now had
two masters.
Of course, even espoused only by a single angel, this notion could not be tolerated.
An example had to be made so that it was known unequivocally there was but one God.
It was ordered that Metatron be humbled through humiliation.
He was flogged 60 times with a whip of fire by the angelic prince Anafiel.
Metatron’s story begs the question: why was it that Enoch, of all the biblical figures,
was chosen for this honor?
Well, in the Zohar, a fundamental literary work of Jewish mystical thought, Enoch is
described as being born with the divine spark, a nucleus of spiritual perfection; Originally,
it was within Adam, but his stewardship of it ceased after his being became marred by
sin.
Because Enoch was endowed with this divine spark, it was decided by God that he must
be brought to heaven, where he could transcend his humanity and be clothed in a new form
and be imbued with unfathomable power so that both his appearance and potency reflected
the perfection within him.
Regardless of whether Enoch experiences a metamorphosis in which he becomes an angel,
his ascension to heaven is described in the book of Genesis 5:24: “Enoch walked with
God; and he was not, for God took him.”
Also, there’s another version of Metatron’s origin, which is the one given in the Tanhuna
Genesis claiming Metatron was formerly the archangel Michael.
In the Alphabet of Ben Sira, an anonymous work of the Middle Ages, dated somewhere between
700 and 1000 CE, a marriage between God and Earth (Elohim and Edem) is described.
As demanded by God, Adam is loaned by Earth for 1,000 years.
A formal receipt is written.
Archangels Michael and Gabriel stood as witnesses, and the transaction, so to speak, was meticulously
and dutifully recorded by Metatron, the divine scribe responsible for recording all that
transpired, every dealing, from the minute to the monumental.
Indeed, this was one of Metatron’s chief duties, creating and keeping the infinite
archives of the Lord; and because these archives contain every word written about every detail
of the universe since the moment of creation, they defy human comprehension.
Because much of what is communicated through religious scripture is metaphorical and allegorical,
and because much of what is done in religious scripture isn’t directly attributed by name
to angelic figures, this creates ambiguity that yields many interpretations.
As such, Metatron has been identified with several passages in both the Old and New Testaments
despite not being named in either.
In Genesis 32 he’s associated with the angel who wrestles Jacob; in Isaiah 21 he’s connected
to the watcher; and in Exodus 23:20 he’s linked with the angel who appears: “Behold,
I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way and to bring thee unto the place
which I have prepared.
And that’s it for this video!
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